1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to method and product for flooring, and in particular to floor members having a blind surface into which a nail or staple may be driven in substantially a vertical direction to attach the flooring member to a subfloor and more particularly to concrete, and which blind surface is covered by an interlocking portion of an abutting floor member, thereby resulting in a floor surface that is firmly attached to the subfloor and or concrete.
2. Related Art
A common method of fastening floor members is by chemical adhesives which may contain toxic or harmful chemical substances, thereby requiring at least aeration of the area to be surfaced. Other precautions such as the use of gloves and masks may also be required of the individual(s) laying the flooring surface. It is also conceivable that government regulations may preclude the use of such toxic chemical adhesives so that there is a need for improved structures and techniques in the floor fastening art.
The aforementioned restrictions on the use of chemical adhesives in the floor fastening art will undoubtedly result in a revival of fastening techniques for floors employing nailing into blind surfaces of the flooring member or tiles for their attachment to a sub floor surface. That such floor attachment techniques are well known is evident from the exemplary floor attachment techniques contained in the disclosure of the following U.S. Patents:
(1) U.S. Pat. No. RE 14,660; DITTMAR; "Flooring"; PA1 (2) U.S. Pat. No. 1,764,331; MORATZ; "Matched Hardwood Flooring"; PA1 (3) U.S. Pat. No. 2,088,238; GREENWAY; "Wood Flooring"; and PA1 (4) U.S. Pat. No. 2,341,645; MUENCH; "Tiling".
All of the above patents provide a blind surface into which a nail is driven in turn into a subfloor or other sub surface to attach the floor member thereto, and which blind surface is subsequently covered by another interlocking floor member. The floor installation techniques disclosed in each of these patents is deficient at least in that the floor member may be inadvertently damaged by being struck by a mis-directed hammer blow, for example. These prior art floor installation techniques also require that the head of the nail be driven below the surface of the blind surface to enable the matching portion of the abutting flooring member to properly mate with the blind surface containing the nail. Thus, these prior floor installation techniques are labor intensive and prone to damage of the flooring members, thereby impairing the resultant surface appearance of the finished floor and resulting in unnecessary cost in laying the floor.
In the patent to MEUNCH, the blind surface is provided on an extended tongue portion of the tile member in an attempt to reduce the probability of damage when the nail is driven into the inclined nailing surface 20, which is directly opposite beveled portion 24, thereby forming a groove construction 16 for accommodating tongue 15. The groove and tongue are appropriately notched so that the engaging surfaces of the tongue are received in the surfaces of the groove.
The length of the tongue and groove combination of the MEUNCH tile construction results in damage to the tongue, especially when the tile construction is used in flooring applications. Weight in the immediate area of the assembled groove and tongue may result in breakage of the tongue. This may explain why the MEUNCH patent disclosure emphasizes the use of the structure as a ceiling tile rather than as a floor tile.
All of the above prior art patents provide for the nail to be driven at an angle into the subfloor, and consequently none of these prior art floor members are useful in attaching floor members directly to a concrete subfloor as in such instances it is essential that the nail be driven substantially vertically into the concrete subfloor to avoid chipping the concrete and to obtain a solid joinder of the floor member to the concrete subfloor.
It is further noted that the prior art, and in particular the MEUNCH technique, does not utilize material efficiently as is evident from a consideration of the length of the tongue and groove structure.